


Watch them bloom for me and you

by SquaresAreNotCircles



Series: Tiny rainbow 'verse [2]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe: Steve has a tiny rainbow flag on his desk, Angst, Canon Queer Character, Coda, Episode: s09e14 Ikliki i ka la o Keawalua (Depressed with the Heat of Kealwalua), Gen, Gen Work, Hurt/Comfort, LGBTQ Themes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-28
Updated: 2019-07-28
Packaged: 2020-07-23 20:56:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20014672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SquaresAreNotCircles/pseuds/SquaresAreNotCircles
Summary: It’s right there. Right in front of her, in the pen holder along with a handful of pens and a pencil, a shock of color that’s also a shock in general. It’s sitting there like a neon sign that saysyou’ll be safe here, but it can’t possibly mean that – that’s just what she desperatelywantsit to mean.Or: Annie is given a reason to feel a little les scared.





	Watch them bloom for me and you

**Author's Note:**

> I just realized I’ve never posted fic to ao3 with zero relationship tags before, wow. There’s still a tiny little reference to Steve/Danny in this, but it’s very ambiguous and if you blink, you’ll miss it. This is new! Also very cathartic, because I’ve wanted to write something comforting for Annie ever since 9.14 aired. 🌈
> 
> I would recommend reading [Somewhere under the rainbow](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19139071) (in which Steve puts a tiny rainbow flag on his desk) before this fic, because it’s what very directly inspired it, but I don’t think it’s a necessary component to understanding any of what happens here. Episode 9.14 might be a little more essential as background, but if you’re the adventurous sort you could probably skip that, too. 
> 
> Be aware, though, that the original episode is about a teen girl who runs away from home because her homophobic parents want to send her to conversion therapy, which might be a trigger or generally difficult subject for some. It’s mostly background in this fic, something that’s alluded to but not explored in detail, but it’s very much there, along the edges. (But the episode has a happy end, of sorts! Five-0 helps her get emancipated to get away from her abusive parents.)
> 
> The title is, like in the original fic, a line from _Over the Rainbow_ by Israel Kamakawiwo’ole, only it’s a direct quote this time: “Well, I see trees of green and red roses too / I’ll watch them bloom for me and you / And I think to myself / What a wonderful world”.

It’s the first thing that catches her eye when she’s led into the office. She takes a seat and the woman that led her and Jill into the building – Detective Tani Rey, she’d called herself – says that they’re just waiting for her boss, who’ll be along shortly, so all three of them stand and sit there under a heavy, anxiety-inducing silence. Annie tries not to throw up and not to stare. She’s more successful at one than the other.

It’s right there. Right in front of her, in the pen holder along with a handful of pens and a pencil, a shock of color that’s also a shock in general. It’s sitting there like a neon sign that says _you’ll be safe here_ , but it can’t possibly mean that – that’s just what she desperately _wants_ it to mean.

It almost definitely doesn’t mean that. 

Detective Rey’s boss, when he arrives through the sleek glass door, convinces her further that she is letting herself see things. He’s tall and muscular and he walks and dresses like all the Navy paraphernalia scattered across the room probably belongs to him, up to and including every single medal and certificate proudly presented on the wall.

Then he says, “Hi Annie,” in a low, serious voice, and perches on the edge of the desk instead of getting behind it, in the huge leather-backed chair. 

It’s odd. She should be scared of him. He’s a man, he’s a cop, and he’s physically terrifying, but he’s so clearly doing everything in his power to be less intimidating to her that it sends a small bubble of hope up from her lower belly through her chest. It lodges in her throat, and when it bursts, out come spilling words. “Is this your desk?”

He looks surprised, and belatedly it occurs to her that she probably cut him off. He hasn’t even introduced himself yet, and here she is, asking questions that he probably thinks are annoying, and then she’ll have ruined her one chance to get him to consider listening to her and he’ll side with her parents, like every adult except Luka always does in the end, and Jill may be a lawyer but even she won’t be able to stop him and he’ll force her to go back to her parents because they know how to appeal to people and Annie doesn’t and they will send her to that place and there will be nothing she can do about it because she’s alone and helpless against all of them telling her she’s too young and too corrupted and too sinful, so sinful, Christ, Annie, why are you letting the Devil into your heart?

Only he doesn’t bark at her to shut up. He looks down at the desk he’s sitting on, like he’s a little surprised by her question and not sure why she would be interested.

When his eyes flick back to her, it’s too quick, like he’s caught a suspicion. She doesn’t know how. She didn’t look at it – she _didn’t_ , even though it’s hard, because it’s red and orange and yellow and green and blue and purple and all those colors are so very bright, and miracles that you only half believe in are very hard to look away from – but somehow, she must have given herself away anyway. His surprise fades, but his eyebrows stay up.

“Yes, it is,” he says, slow and careful. Almost deliberate. “This is my desk.”

“And it- It has your stuff on it?” Way to go, Annie – if he doesn’t think you’re annoying, now he’s definitely going to think you’re too stupid to function.

He nods once. “Yes.” He crosses his arms and leans back a bit, and looks down at the desk again, casually. “That’s my computer, my lamp. My pen holder.”

He knows. He knows he knows he-

He’s still talking, casual as anything. “Do you like the way I decorated it?”

“It’s nice,” she croaks.

“Do you want to hear a secret?” He smiles at her, crooked. “My partner thinks it’s a little silly, but it’s my favorite thing in this room.”

Annie remembers Detective Rey, who’s been standing by the window unobtrusively. When Annie looks at her, she immediately raises her hands, palms out, and starts shaking her head. “Oh, I’m not the partner. He shouts more than I do.”

“She’s not the partner,” her boss confirms, smirking now. It drops away quickly for something more genuine. “My name is Steve McGarrett, and I guess you’ve met my colleague here, Tani Rey.”

It’s like he gives the starting shot for the actual proceedings to kick off. When Jill steps forward to hand Steve a business card and introduce herself as Annie’s lawyer, Annie’s eyes trail away – to Steve’s favorite thing in the room, which is one of at least two things they have in common. 

Her anxiety ramps up again when Steve starts talking about how Annie is underage so she won’t have to tell them anything without her parents present. That’s _so wrong_ , but at the same time, in a backwards way, it’s a relief, because it also makes it pretty obvious that he doesn’t know. He has no clue, because if he would, he wouldn’t be saying this, and he probably would never even have ordered her to be brought back from Maui in the first place, because he’s not that person, which she knows because he has a rainbow flag on his desk that means the things she needs it to mean.

_You’ll be safe here_ , it tells her. _You’re not the only one._ The ball of panic that’s supposed to be her heart relaxes just a fraction.

Breathe, Annie. Breathe.

**Author's Note:**

> Ripple effect!!! Representation!!! Community!!! These are things that get to me. 
> 
> (Also, in this slightly happier universe, [when Annie’s mom asks Steve if he has any children](https://five-wow.tumblr.com/post/186605637713/914-or-the-episode-where-steve-mcgarrett-is-most), he definitely says yes and only resists the knee-jerk urge to whip out the pictures of Grace and Charlie and Nahele that he carries around in his wallet because he doesn’t like the person who asked and doesn’t think she deserves to see them.)
> 
> Thank you for reading!! If you can, consider leaving a comment. ❤
> 
> I’m on Tumblr as [itwoodbeprefect](https://itwoodbeprefect.tumblr.com), or with my exclusively H50 (and mostly McDanno) sideblog as [five-wow](https://five-wow.tumblr.com).


End file.
